The body of Jesus is one of the most powerful symbols in Christianity. In this program, two scholars bring their perspectives to bear on our knowledge of the body of Jesus, both as a historical reality and as a symbol.

Allen Callahan, an independent scholar of biblical languages and literature, has taught New Testament, biblical theology, and hermeneutics at Andover-Newton Theological School, Harvard Divinity School, and the Seminário Teológico Batista de Nordeste in Brazil. He is the author of three books, including The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible. Rachel Havrelock, an expert on the Bible, holds a joint appointment in the department of English and the Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Havrelock is the author of the forthcoming River Jordan: The Mythology of a Dividing Line and a contributor to The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. Callahan and Havrelock are the stars of the documentary series Who Was Jesus?, which premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2009.

For more information and tickets, go to the Chicago Humanities Festival website.